Woakes Included As England Name ODI Squad

England have named their One-Day International and Twenty20 International squads to take on Australia early next year, with uncapped Warwickshire bowler Chris Woakes earning a call-up.

Woakes earns his opportunity partly on the back of impressive performances both for Warwickshire, England Lions and the Performance Squad and also due to the absence through injury of Stuart Broad.

“With Stuart Broad ruled out of the series we’ve needed to bolster our pace bowling stocks and Chris Woakes comes into the squad after knocking on the door for some time" national selector Geoff Miller said.

"Chris will be hungry for his international debut and vying for a place with a number of other quality pace bowlers."

Andrew Strauss will lead the side for the seven-match ODI series while Paul Collingwood will take the helm for the two Twenty20 Internationals, for which wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter will play before Steven Davies takes over the gloves for the ODI series.

”While our focus is currently on retaining the Ashes in Australia we are excited by the prospect of taking on Australia in the limited overs format as they are amongst the best in the world in the shorter form of the game," Miller added.

“We believe we’ve picked a well balanced squad to cover both the two Twenty20 matches and the ensuing seven–match ODI series against Australia. This series will be the ideal lead up to the ICC World Cup which immediately follows the tour of Australia.

“Craig Kieswetter will join the squad for two Twenty20 matches only before joining the England Lions tour of the West Indies.

“To pit yourself against the number one ranked ODI side in the world over a seven-match series is the perfect preparation for a World Cup and we’ll be looking to continue the recent run of results the ODI squad has enjoyed over the past 18 months.”